ESPN, ABC and NFL Network will set a new viewership record for the three-day NFL Draft when final numbers are released, easily topping last year’s record of 6.1 million viewers. Viewership for Rounds 4-7 on Saturday should be available later today. The three-day figure for this year’s event, held remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be fueled by record numbers for both Thursday and Friday night coverage. Heading into Saturday’s coverage, draft viewership was up around 36% from ’10.
Thursday night’s Round 1 averaged a record 15.3 million viewers, which was over 3 million viewers more than the previous record in ’14, when Johnny Manziel fell to the Browns late in Round 1. Rounds 2-3 on Friday night also set a record for ESPN, ABC and NFL Net, with the coverage averaging over 8 million viewers. That was up close to 40% compared to last year, when ESPN2 had a large portion of the Friday night coverage (ESPN usually switches over to NBA game action on the Friday of the draft). An Ohio market once again led the way for coverage on Friday, with Cleveland-Akron drawing a 9.5 local rating. Atlanta climbed to No. 2 (8.8 rating), while K.C. was No. 3 with an 8.6.
